In an address to the nation Thursday night, President Joe Biden called out a recent spate of homegrown hate attacks spurred by the war between Israel and the militant group Hamas—specifically highlighting the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy last week in a Chicago suburb.
The act was allegedly carried out by a paranoid man who was in part fueled by conservative talk radio.
About midway through his Oval Office address, Biden acknowledged the perils of both antisemitism and Islamophobia.
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“Just last week a mother was brutally stabbed,” he said, referring to the boy’s mother, Hanaan Shaheen, who is expected to survive after being hospitalized with more than a dozen stab wounds.
“A little boy…who had just turned 6 years old was murdered in their home outside of Chicago. His name was Wadea. A proud American. A proud Palestinian-American family,” the president continued.
Wadea Al-Fayoume’s father, Oday El-Fayoume, told The Daily Beast that his ex-wife and son “had a good relationship” with the suspect, who was their landlord.
“My ex-wife and son knew him, and they had a good relationship. It is hard to picture this man holding a knife about to stab my son. I keep thinking that my son was probably running towards him before getting stabbed, trying to give him a hug,” he said.
According to local community leaders, 71-year-old Joseph Czuba yelled out anti-Muslim slurs during the stabbings. In addition to the hate crime charges, he was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and aggravated battery.
Biden urged Americans to not stand by when such tragic events happen.
“We must, without equivocation, denounce antisemitism. We also, without equivocation, must denounce Islamophobia,” he said. “To all those of you hurting, I want you to know: I see you. You belong. I want to say this to you: You are all American.”
In his high-stakes, primetime address, Biden also linked the outcomes of Israel’s war against Hamas and Ukraine’s war against Russia as “vital for America’s national security.”
“I know these conflicts seem far away,” he said, before outlining an aid package for each nation he intends on submitting to Congress.
The funding request will include $105 billion over the next year—including $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion in aid for Israel, according to the Associated Press. Other priorities included in the package include $14 billion to manage the growing tide of migrants crossing the southern U.S. border and $10 billion for humanitarian efforts across the world.
“History has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going. And the constant threats to America in the world keep rising. So if we don’t stop Putin’s appetite for power and control in Ukraine, he won’t limit himself just to the Ukraine,” the president warned.
“The risk of conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world,” he continued, noting the Middle East in particular.
The aid package, Biden added, will help avoid having American troops on the ground in either war-torn country.
It will also, he said, “help us build a world that is safer, more peaceful, and more prosperous for our children and grandchildren.”
